FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that Dodgers SS Hanley Ramirez will have surgery on his injured right thumb, and he's expected to "return to competition" in eight weeks, according to beat writer Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. If that timetable proves correct - it's obviously very early to tell how Ramirez's recovery will progress - he'll miss 39 games and return on May 17.

As tough as it is to know when Ramirez will be back, and - more importantly - how the surgery will affect his performance when he does return, I've tentatively adjusted his rankings as follows:

From first to eighth in the shortstop rankings (between Asdrubal Cabrera and Elvis Andrus)

From second to 10th in the third base rankings (between Chase Headley and Pedro Alvarez)

From 16th to 75th overall

That puts a (hopefully) 120-game Ramirez in the seventh round of a standard mixed league draft, and if you think that's too much of a risk, I won't blame you. As we learn more about how this injury may affect Ramirez, his place in the rankings may be adjusted again.

1 Comment:

THUMBS DOWN! I have lost Chase Hadley and Hanley Ramirez on 80% of my 20 fantasy teams. Thankfully, I have found whom I consider a satisfactory 3rd base replacement in Matt Carpenter (3b, 1b, OF). I suggest Major Leaguers indulge in thumb wrestling in the offseason.